#crisis of modernity

[oxytocinatrocities]

Yet another comic about leaving the Mormon church that can be applied to a variety of things. I also plan to include some version of this in a graphic novel I’m making.

[jtoddring]

The Failure Of The Intellectuals: On The Elusiveness Of Truly Lucid Big Picture Thinking

Here is an example, from a seemingly good-natured and honest, intelligent man, who is grasping at a big picture view, but is in reality a specialist, with no depth of understanding, at all, in several major fields of fundamental importance to such a big picture view. The video talk link is below, but it could have been dozens, hundreds, or millions of other intellectuals who would have served…

[chaoticace2005]

Alastor misinterpreting modern LGBTQIA+ labels also leaves room for so much confusion with the rest of the cast:

(Based on @onesidedradiostatic ‘s posts)

-Genuinely thinks Husk is attracted to kitchenware, to the point where one of his “punishments” is not being allowed in the kitchen

-If Huskerdust then Alastor begins to question if Angel is secretly a pan

-Knows Angel isn’t a pan so Alastor tells him there is no chance if Huskerdust happening (talked about here)

-Angel saying he’s gay and Alastor questioning that because he was sure Angel was depressed

-Reevaluating the bisexual label AGAIN when he finds out Pentious has two dicks, causing him to question his previous statement of Vox being dickless

-Vaggie: Im Lesbian, Alastor: I don’t believe I’m familiar with that country

-Alastor thinking all angels and/or exorcists are lesbians (yes, this includes Adam and Lucifer)

-Him thinking of Charlie as half-lesbian, not because he’s biphobic but because she’s half angel

-Lucifer mentioning he’s kind of gender-fluid so he wonders if the fluid of Lucifer is what’s responsible for one’s gender

-Thinking trans means transportation/transit/transcontinental railroad and assumes they’re the best people to travel with

-Him thinking “bisexual” refers to having two partners

-Him thinking “bisexual” refers to being attracted to bicycles so he removes all bicycles (and pans because fuck you Husker) from the hotel

-Him thinking the term “ace” refers to a phenomenal card player because he beat Husk in poker, taunts Husk for not being “ace” anymore (Alastor stole Husk’s aceness)

[reasonsforhope]

Legit though, we should start turning ecosystem restoration and work to make our world more tolerant to the effects of climate change into annual holidays and festivals

Like how just about every culture used to have festivals to celebrate the beginning of the harvest or its end, or the beginning of planting, or how whole communities used to host barn raisings and quilting bees - everyone coming together at once to turn the work of months or years into the work of a few days

Humble suggestions for festival types:

Goat festival

Besides controlled burns (which you can't do if there's too much dead brush), the fastest, most effective, and most cost-efficient way to clear brush before fire season - esp really heavy dead brush - is to just. Put a bunch of goats on your land for a few days!

Remember that Shark Tank competitor who wanted to start a goat rental company, and everyone was like wtf? There was even a whole John Oliver bit making fun of the idea? Well THAT JUST PROVES THEY'RE FROM NICE WET PLACES, because goat rental companies are totally a thing, and they're great.

So like. Why don't we have a weekend where everyone with goats just takes those goats to the nearest land that needs a ton of clearing? Public officials could put up maps of where on public lands grazing is needed, and where it definitely shouldn't happen. Farmers and people/groups with a lot of acres that need clearing can post Goat Requests.

Little kids can make goat-themed crafts and give the goats lots of pets or treats at the end of the day for doing such a good job. Volunteers can help wrangle things so goats don't get where they're not supposed to (and everyone fences off land nowadays anyway, mostly). And the goats, of course, would be in fucking banquet paradise.

Planting Festival and Harvest Festival

Why mess with success??? Bring these back where they've disappeared!!! Time to swarm the community gardens and help everyone near you with a farm make sure that all of their seeds are sown and none of the food goes to waste in the fields, decaying and unpicked.

And then set up distribution parts of the festival so all the extra food gets where it needs to be! Boxes of free lemons in front of your house because you have 80 goddamned lemons are great, but you know what else would be great? An organized effort to take that shit to food pantries (which SUPER rarely get fresh produce, because they can't hold anything perishable for long at all) and community/farmer's markets

Rain Capture Festival

The "water year" - how we track annual rainfall and precipitation - is offset from the regular calendar year because, like, that's just when water cycles through the ecosystems (e.g. meltwater). At least in the US, the water year is October 1st through September 30th of the next year, because October 1st is around when all the snowmelt from last year is gone, and a new cycle is starting as rain begins to fall again in earnest.

So why don't we all have a big barn raising equivalent every September to build rain capture infrastructure?

Team up with some neighbors to turn one of those little grass strips on the sidewalk into a rain-garden with fall-planting plants. Go down to your local church and help them install some gutters and rain barrels. Help deculvert rivers so they run through the dirt again, and make sure all the storm drains in your neighborhood are nice and clear.

Even better, all of this - ESPECIALLY the rain gardens - will also help a ton with flood control!

I'm so serious about how cool this could be, yall.

And people who can't or don't want to do physical stuff for any of these festivals could volunteer to watch children or cook food for the festival or whatever else might need to be done!

Parties afterward to celebrate all the good work done! Community building and direct local improvements to help protect ourselves from climate change!

The possibilities are literally endless, so not to sound like an influencer or some shit, but please DO comment or reply or put it in the notes if you have thoughts, esp on other things we could hold festivals like this for.

Canning festivals. "Dig your elderly neighbors out of the snow" festivals. Endangered species nesting count festival. Plant fruit trees on public land and parks festival. All of the things that I don't know anywhere near enough to think of. Especially in more niche or extreme ecosystems, there are so many possibilities that could do a lot of good

[onesidedradiostatic]

okay alastor's response of learning about the term "asexual" by responding with "a sexual? I'd say I'm the furthest thing from it" IS very funny but have we considered that he HAS heard the word before but not in the modern way. he's only heard of it used in the context of asexual reproduction. or asexual plants. he does not believe either applies to him.

[darlingsart]

Came across this on Twitter and is this not them lmao

[cod-dump]

Soldier: Let me guess. You’re fucking the LT in order to get special treatment. Or is it because you’re a slut

Soap: IS FUCKING HIM AN OPTION?! COULD I HAVE BEEN FUCKING HIM THIS WHOLE TIME?!

Soldier:

[respected-coconut]

Been busy with summer work lately so here r some destress clervalstein doodles bc that’s apparently all I can draw as of late

[onlylonelylatino]

Blue Beetle and the new Justice League by Daniel Sampere

[journen]

Sketched this silly thing after seeing this on Pinterest lol

[goldkirk]

hey this isn’t aimed at anyone in particular but I’m saying it for the record here: if I tell you no, please stop messaging me about fundraisers and mutual aid.

I get enough messages that it’s impossible for me to keep up without devoting at least half an hour each day, when I’m not even on tumblr that long most days. Me having a boundary about this isn’t a moral failing, it’s a lifeboat for me on my own blog.

In my personal life I’m already advocating and donating literally as much as I can spare. This is not me not caring, it’s just me not willing to interact with that on the one place I go online to not interact with irl news and world events for the most part.

I cannot be upset all the time. I cannot be upset everywhere. I cannot use all my emotional and mental energy fielding my own upset from ongoing events. My options are to hold boundaries about this or stop coming online at all.

I’m all for sharing information and signal boosting to reasonable extents, but the scale of it this year is so large and so enduring that it is literally not possible to for me to participate on every account I have. I’ve previously shared links to Gaza eSIM donations and a major hub of verified Go Fund Mes here and elsewhere online. We, the online humans, know how to look those things up ourselves by now. There are many, many people choosing to do advocacy work, and right now, I can’t be one of them.

If you’re extremely upset when I tell you I can’t share/donate right now about a Gaza family or personal fundraiser you ask me to share here, just unfollow and block me. That’s what those buttons are for. Protect your own emotions and energy and get me off your feed instead of staying upset and continuing to engage with online people or content that upsets you.

Please don’t send repeated angry messages based on manufactured purity politics and moral outrage into my messages and inbox when I exercise the right to run my own blog.

[anothercrisis]

TF-141 & FRIENDS SLEEP HEADCANONS

Price is able to sleep just about anywhere and at a moment’s notice. He could cross his arms, dip his chin, and be snoring softly within seconds. He snores surprisingly lightly, but, more than once, the team has heard his breathing cut off mid-snore. Every time it happens, they hold their breath too, waiting to see if Price will start breathing again on his own. When he does, because he always does, they all collectively sigh in relief. (Price is unaware of his breathing problem, as no one has told him, apparently deciding it wasn’t important for him to know.)

Gaz will sometimes talk in his sleep, but not very clearly or loudly; it’s more of a mumbling than coherent words. It usually only happens when he isn’t able to fall into a deep sleep, hovering somewhere close to consciousness. It doesn’t seem to bother the team, the sound of his half-formed words lost among the other noise in the barracks. But Soap once leaned over Gaz while he was sleeping in an attempt to decipher what it was he was saying, and scared the shit out of both of them when Gaz jerked awake. (Gaz became a little self conscious about his sleep talking after Soap’s interest and took to tucking his blanket up to his chin to help muffle the sound.)

Soap takes up so much space when he’s sleeping, sometimes involuntarily despite whatever position he falls asleep in. Dozing on the helo? His legs are stretched across the entire aisle, knocking ankles with teammates. Napping on the couch? Sprawled across the whole thing, one leg on top of the couch and an arm hanging towards the floor. The team quickly learned how to maneuver around his limbs when they were trying to pass by him, though Roach will stop to settle them into a more comfortable position. (Ghost is the one who tells Soap about Roach’s tendency to adjust Soap’s sleeping form, and it’s also from him that he hears of the weird positions he’s found sleeping in.)

Ghost is more of a burst sleeper than a straight shot at night kind of sleeper. He can’t fall asleep anywhere like Price can and he can’t do it around just anyone. So when he manages to find that sweet spot, he’ll cross his arms and nod off for an hour or so, sleeping lightly enough that if something were to happen he’d wake up. The team is good to him when he’s sleeping, dropping their voices into whispers and keeping vigilance so he can get the rest he needs. (Ghost knows he’s in the best of hands when Soap is nearby, for many reasons but mostly because he won’t hesitate to bite the head off anyone who looks like they might disturb him.)

Roach is an incredibly light sleeper and doesn’t usually sleep through the night due to all the little noises in the barracks that wake him up. He’s constantly napping during the day to make up for all the lost time. It’s not uncommon for him to drop his head onto the shoulder of whoever is next to him without warning to doze for a few minutes. Most of the team doesn’t mind and have told him that they don’t, but he still feels a little guilty about it. (His favorite person to sleep on is Ghost, because he knows how to hold still and his bicep is a perfect pillow.)

König is hyper aware of his size even in his sleep. He sleeps curled up on his side, head tucked into his arm. Even if it wasn’t by choice, he’d be stuck bent anyway because the bunks aren’t built for someone of his stature. He falls asleep quickly and deeply and doesn’t move or make a sound as he sleeps. It surprises some of the team, because they know how much he moves and how much noise he makes when he’s awake. (Even though he wakes up in the exact same position he fell asleep in, he isn’t really aware of the fact that he sleeps like the dead, and no one brings it up to his face.)

Alejandro is a bit of a high maintenance sleeper with a routine he follows religiously. He only rests truly well when he’s in his bed on his base or at home. He can sleep elsewhere when he has to of course, he is a soldier, but he evidently doesn’t get good rest because he’ll wake up in a bit of a sour mood. The team quickly takes to using Rodolfo as a buffer in the mornings and making sure there’s consistently coffee available until Alejandro mellows a bit. (Both Rudy and the coffee obviously make Alejandro feel better, but no one dares comment on it.)

Rodolfo is more of a night owl, so he usually doesn’t go to bed until past midnight, but he’s quick to sleep and sleeps deeply to make up for it. Surprisingly, he isn’t much of a napper, unless he’s been working really hard and that kind of exhaustion weighs him down. When the team sees him asleep during the day, they understand how exhausted he must be and do whatever they can to help him. (He was once so tired he fell asleep in the mess hall but woke up some hours later in his bed, and no one would tell him who moved him.)

Bonus Ghost x Soap x Roach:

Sometimes Roach will decide it’s time for a nap of his own when he finds Soap asleep, sprawled out on the couch. Roach will settle onto the cushions beside him and, unconsciously, Soap will make room for him. He’ll open the space under his arm so Roach can be secure and rest somewhere warmer, softer. Sometimes Ghost will join them, even if he doesn’t plan on sleeping, stationing himself at the end of the couch with their feet in his lap.

Sometimes Ghost is caught minding his own business in his bed by Roach, who will sidle up to him and tuck himself into Ghost’s side, falling asleep almost instantly. Then Soap will show up and intentionally mirror Roach to sandwich Ghost between them. The bed isn’t wide enough for all three of them, so half their bodies are draped over Ghost’s, all their hips and knees pushed together. (Ghost doesn’t mind any of it in the slightest because it’s them.) He simply puts his arms around them both and lets them sleep as long as they’d like. He might even doze off himself.

[chaoticace2005]

Referring to this post where Alastor misinterprets pansexuality for being attracted only to pans

Alastor trying to help or cause problems so he tells Angel that he isn’t Husk’s type and never will be without further elaboration, causing Angel to think Husk is either:

-Not into men

-Not into anyone

-Not into people or men that present more femininely

-Not into Italians

-Not into spiders

-Not into pink

-Not into people of his “industry”

-Not into coked up dick sucking hos

-Not into people who are “broken”

-Not into people who are fake or previously pushed his boundaries

-Not into the person underneath the fake

And then having to try and work out which one it is.

[someartistsammy]

Genesis's childhood award, the basis of pasteurization, and the supposed fragility of Banora Whites.

A take on it from a farm kid that actually specializes in growing apples.

Was talking with a good friend of mine last night about various takes in the fandom last night and was reminded of one I had seen semi-recently about Genesis's childhood genius in supposedly inventing pasteurization.

I want to believe this is a take that comes from being uninformed as to what pasteurization actually is, considering him being the first to invent it around the time of 1990 would show a stunning lack of technological advancements in the world of FF7. Let me explain.

Shinra has had a lot of technological advancements, and we can see those constantly portrayed clear as day throughout the world of FF7. However even in the time before Shinra, during the time of the Republic of Junon, it can also be assumed that they would have pasteurization, a process that in the real world was invented in the 1800s. Exploration of the world in Rebirth also reveals multiple areas that have shipment docks from the time of the Republic. This would include the assumption that this is how people both traveled as well as transported and exchanged goods.

Pasteurization is an incredibly important technological advancement as it's allowed for the easier shipment and trade of food on a global level. The definition can be found below.

In food processing, pasteurization is a process of food preservation in which packaged and unpacked foods (e.g., milk and fruit juices) are treated with mild heat, usually to less than 100 °C (212 °F), to eliminate pathogens and extend shelf life. Pasteurization either destroys or deactivates microorganisms and enzymes that contribute to food spoilage or the risk of disease, … (continued on Wikipedia)

There are different methods such as Low-temperature long time (LTLT), High temperature/short time (HTST) and Ultrahigh temperature (UHT) (also called Ultraheat treated) however that isn't super important to this, just know that HTST is the standard for apple juice.

The point in this being that if Genesis were to have invented pasteurization ~1990, the rest of the world would have been taking incredibly risky measures in transporting food and risking spoiling for decades, as well as various things being unsafe for consumption such as milk. With the advancements the world already had by this time such as phones, war artillery, windmills, and mako reactors, I find it highly unlikely that he would've been the one to invent pasteurization.

I feel as though it is important to mention that Genesis's award was first place in the National Agriculture Awards, but more specifically, an award in the processed food category. The processed category in these awards directly gives it away in the fact that food was already processed enough to have its own category for awards. Presentation on this is in relation to the presentation of a processed product, and not a form of processing itself. In the assumption that these reflect actual reward categories, there are different categories for scientific invention as well as processing systems.

Reference page for the names/categories presented. This is not the description document.

Agricultural Proficiency Award Area Descriptions.

Although there is the argument that they likely didn't use this same style categorizing, its important to note that they did use categories within the national agricultural awards, and they specifically made the choice of processed food, instead of any of the other choices. If he really made such an important invention, why wouldn't it be stated anywhere as clearly being pasteurization, something that would revolutionize the world, or for that matter why wouldn't it be awarded in the name of development of food science?

I believe its also worth mentioning that the Crisis Core Complete Guide says "Because the fruit can only be harvested in this region, it sells for a high price on the market, but the village children don't seem to know this, …" This would be due to the fact that the Banora Whites are common-place in Banora. In a similar way to how wagyu in Japan is significantly cheaper than it is in the United States, due to export; Genesis would have an easier and cheaper time attempting experimentation methods, if there even needs to be any variation for them, resulting in juice with correct pasteurization due to his being local to Banora. (Market price on them in Banora would be naturally lower due to supply likely being higher than demand, as well as not having to worry about import and export fees. Not to mention being the place where it is naturally grown).

*In the above example I used wagyu as a comparison, however this could just as easily be any other exported food that becomes considered rare when exported, another example which is actually more rare would be the black diamond apple.

While mentioning this, I also want to say that his invention is specifically upon Banora White Juice, not apple juice in its entirety of existence. In similarity to pasteurization, this feels like an over-exaggeration of what Genesis actually accomplished.

While branching through this topic, I also want to bring attention to a take I was sent a while back on the supposed fragility of Banora Whites. While going through the Ultimanias with assistance of a friend, nothing could be found on sources hinting towards Banora Whites being fragile. My next assumption is that this conclusion was likely reached on the basis of Banora Whites being mentioned to be region exclusive, and a high-price market item.

Banora Whites are called just that because of their area of growth being only that of Banora in the Mideel region. The growth of Banora Whites is actually tied to the amount of lifestream that flows through the Banora Underground, this gives Banora a very unique type of soil that allows for the growth of Banora Whites. Since Banora is the only place where the crop grows, giving it a very limited area of growth, and since it cannot be grown globally, gives it a very high market value.

Now into the technicality of things, it could also be assumed that the sale of the Banora White was likely tied to its aesthetics, similar to the way that the pink pineapple is in the real world. The difference here being that when juiced, the pink pineapple loses most of what it has going for it in terms of its aesthetic appearance and thus reducing its marketability and price. Meanwhile, Banora whites, while although losing what would make them have a unique aesthetic appearance, could possibly have a specific flavor to them that translates into the juice.

You see, I believe Genesis's intelligence on the matter comes from not creating some life changing way of preserving things, but rather from preventing waste. Although I do not find any info on Banora Whites being fragile, it can be argued that all apples are fragile in a sense, or at least majority of them. They're truly one of those fruits where sometimes you can chuck them at a tree and only see a bruise or dent, and other times you look at them wrong and they'll split wide open.

When thinking of an apple in general, chances are fragile is not the first word that comes to mind, as many other fruits would be considered fragile long before them, and that'd be correct. However, the harvest and transportation of apples, as well as their general growth, can be littered with complications. When moving apples in a commercial wooden apple bin, when you have hundreds of them stacked together, driving faster than even 2MPH by tractor can cause shaking and damage to the fruit by rubbing damage which can create bruising.

Banora is a remote island location, and import and export of items is likely expensive, which would contribute to the income that Banora Whites would bring in (see earlier mention of wagyu and Japan vs US price) Due to being an island, the methods of exporting would have to be either by air, which would be incredibly expensive and fuel taxing, or by ocean. I mentioned earlier that FF7 Rebirth shows multiple docks and ports that would hint towards ocean being the likely way of transportation of food and people. This would require a boat to leave from down by Banora and travel all the way up the coast through the Meridian Ocean. Constant swaying of the ocean and anything unsecured likely leads to aesthetic damages which allow for even less of the Banora Whites to reach market in aesthetically acceptable shelf conditions.

Banora and in general the Mideel Region is a very coastal region that by flora alone also appears to be a very warm and tropical one. By this assumption not only would Banora Whites possibly be prone to sunburn, a reason they likely developed their darker appearance to survive, but also being internally cooked by the heat of the sun. Also being coastal could lead to strong storms brought in by the ocean leaving damage from heavy winds, pelting rain, hail, and similar damaging weather factors. Excessive rain also typically leads to apples suffering growth cracks, which also takes them off the table for being sold to market as-is.

In the assumption that the Banora Whites would survive possibly brutal conditions that are located down in that area, due to any damage caused by going across the sea, they would likely need to be packaged first while in Banora (hence the warehouse) which would also bring up the pricing on them. However, where does this leave the fruit that's been damaged? Just because it has a crack it it or an aesthetic-only scar across the skin does not mean that the fruit is ruined or inedible. This is fruit that can be used for many different things, including juicing. Juicing is a method that ignores damages that are purely aesthetic, and allows for profit where there would otherwise be none given. Genesis's invention is that of one that prevents waste, and allows for another source of income to the area.

Juicing of apples that wouldn't make it to market would keep the price of the pure solid apples that do make it to market still profitable, while also giving use to those that wouldn't be allowed onto the shelves. While its nothing groundbreaking for the world, like pasteurization would have been, it does allow for Banora to be able to sustain itself via income more, and just overall prevent the waste of more food.

Although to some its not as glamorous if he didn't do something that fundamentally changed the world as a kid, that doesn't mean that what Genesis did isn't still something that he was worth awarding for, especially as a youth. Not only did his creation prevent the waste of food, which earned him his award, but Banora White Juice also did become a famous global hit.

[onesidedradiostatic]

Alastor interpreting “bisexual” as “sexual twice a year/once every two years” and thinking “strange thing to tell me, not sure what he expects me to do with that information.”

/ “sounds like a rare enough occurrence for us to be regular acquaintances without that topic coming up. Excellent :)”

Then, “LIAR! YOU ARE SEXUAL FAR MORE OFTEN THAN BI-ANNUALLY!!? TOO MUCH ACTUALLY!? ALMOST. EVERY. DAY. MAYBE SEE A DOCTOR?????? Friendship ended.”

(CONTEXT: my post about alastor misinterpreting modern sexuality labels as asexual reproduction and bisexual flowers, also the "bisexual" in this case is vox)

LMAOOOO that's another take on it, alastor coming up with his own definition. complains about allos without knowing what allos are.

[kuroowo]

Modern AU Suguru whose guilty-non-guilty pleasure idea of fun is to make people fall in love with him (just because he can) meets you, the new transfer, at the office and instantly decides you’re his next target.

He’s befriends you right off the bat. Seeks you out between breaks for a quick chat. Tries to get to know you more. Invites you out for an occasional drink that turns into full blown dinners and walks home. He gifts you little trinkets he finds reminding him of you— hold on. Wait a minute, Suguru’s world screeches to a halt with utmost urgency. Since when did he start to look forward to texting you first thing in the morning? Since when did he carve out a routine to see you outside of work at least once a week? Since when did he anticipate to see your smile, hear your laughter? Since when did his thoughts start to run circles around you every night before he sleeps? Since when did he start planning to have you meet his two disaster best friends? Since when, since when, since when—

Geto goes through a ‘minor’ crisis realising that he ended up falling in love with you instead of the intended other way ‘round. Gojo cackles so hard his sunglasses slips off his face, boisterous laughter only amplified by Ieiri’s, “I told you, dumbass.”, but the dark-haired man is still in denial nonetheless.

“There’s no way, Shoko—”, because where did he falter? When did he slip up? It’s not even his first rodeo, so why did this happen?? “—and shut up, Satoru!”

“And there’s no way his hair isn’t white.”, unimpressed and utterly over Geto’s shit, Ieiri blows a cloud of smoke into his face, strangely annoyed and sympathetic. Okay, maybe not that strangely. Maybe it’s her conscience kicking in because you’re actually a great friend to her and she’d hate to see you gone because of the man bun wearing block-head. “Get your shit together before it’s too late, Suguru.”

And maybe Geto should. Yeah. No. He definitely should. Like hell is he losing you to some lame baker who makes stale pastries 3 blocks down from your home (it’s not stale, he’s just jealous) or to that desperate creep from the company next door (they’re actually just an extrovert, he’s just jealous), and especially not to Fushiguro fucking Toji of all damn people (that’s a married and devoted man to his wife, he’s just jealous). So yeah, Suguru’s going to get his shit together alright.